The “X-Ray of the Public Security Forces of Brazil”, a study released by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, last February, showed that the Santa Catarina Military Police force is the fourth among the states, which has shrunk the most in recent years. ten years.
Military police officers from Santa Catarina – Photo: Eduardo Valente/SECOM/ND
And another fact caught our attention. Of the 9,580 police officers in the Santa Catarina PM, the largest number today are corporals, with 3,747 against 2,554 soldiers.
The military police career is divided into hierarchical levels. Soldiers are the first rank in the military hierarchy and have a smaller contingent, in Santa Catarina, than corporals, direct superiors, one step higher on the hierarchical ladder followed by the corporation.
This has occurred when there are no new soldiers for some time, or promotions are delayed, which creates a bad organizational climate.
For experts, there are no operability problems with this, as both fulfill similar functions. Of course, the corporal has more hierarchical responsibilities.
As long as there is an activity to be carried out by these promoted people, it is important to consider what these corporals will develop, what tasks are established for them.
Lack of interest among young people in the PM
What there is also, in this current situation, is a certain lack of interest among younger generations in a police career, given the difficulties imposed by the nature of the work, especially the risk of death and salary issues.
Colonel Moretzsohn, an Intelligence specialist, says he believes that although PM competitions are still highly sought after, mainly due to job stability, many police officers become soldiers and then look for other competitions, in search of better opportunities, which It’s the rules of the game.
“It’s an equation on a knife’s edge: society demands more security; public administrators try to streamline the machine, police officers retire due to length of service, and the force’s personnel are never sufficient”, he analyzed.
Moretzsohn that even with problems with personnel, residents of Santa Catarina have a so-called feeling of security, a result of the high quality of the state’s population, with a high level of education, and the very good selection and training processes for police officers.
